Peru - Cusco

---

David here...

We arrived back into Cusco around 12:30 at a bus station a 10 minute walk away from Net House B&B. It took us a while to find it as the doorway only had a little card on it and it was shared with another B&B. Once inside we found a clean, small, friendly and pleasant place, with a nice room and access to a shared kitchen. We had plans for the afternoon so dumped our bags and headed out.

Our first stop was the Qorikancha site, which was small but pretty good. Some interesting Inca and pre-Inca artifacts on display including skulls that had been purposely deformed from infancy to show status, and others with trepanation holes. This, and all the sights and museums we would be visiting while in Cusco, were included on the tourist ticket we bought way back in Ollantaytambo.

The next stop was the Museo de Historia Regional, which was alright but got a bit boring once we reached the Spanish artifacts and paintings. Religious stuff just doesn't do it for us. The third planned stop, the Contemporary Art Gallery, was closed on Sundays so we ended up strolling round the back streets looking for a good place to try our first Pisco Sours. We failed in finding anywhere so decided to head back to the room to freshen up before heading out for food that evening.

Much as we love Cusco, one thing that we've noticed on this stop is that we've been touted a lot more than the last time. We've been offered massages on every street corner, every restaurant will chase you until you either cave-in or run, and I've lost count of the amount of times we've been offered drugs. It got tedious very quickly.

That evening we headed out to try and find Pisco Sours again (after doing some research) and to get some food. We headed for Insomnia bar first, a horror themed bar that was supposed to be good. We think we found it but there were a lot of shifty looking men hanging around outside, so we didn't go in. It shouldn't be difficult to find a bar serving reasonably priced drinks, but we really struggled. Giving up on the Sours we aimed for beer instead. We went into a craft beer place, which was expensive and the one beer I wanted they didn't have, so we left. We then aimed for the Beerhouse nearby and just as we got there a couple of their touts ran over waving the menus at us, which put us right off.

We decided to cut our losses and grab some food. Our first choice was PerUk, however when we got there they were full. So we decided to got to Feugos Burger and Barbeque just a few doors up. We finally got to try Pisco Sours (very nice) however the food was not great. I'd made the mistake of ordering a starter (they wouldn't let me have it as a side) of onion rings and the portion was huge. Suzanne had a Mexican burger which was under cooked and my beef hearts were not as good as the ones I'd had in Lima. Suzanne did try a bit of mine and thought it was nice but couldn't get out of her head what it was. We ended the evening, after running the tout gauntlet back to our hotel, with a couple of Cristal beers, a brand we'd not tried before. Very nice and better than Cusquena.

We were up and about for breakfast at 08:00 the next day, fried eggs, bread, jam, juice and coffee again. We are getting a little sick of the same breakfasts. By 08:45 we were walking towards the bus station to catch a bus going to Calca or Pisac. We were heading about 11km out of town to the Tambomachy ruins. Tambomachy is the furthest ruins out of town, uphill. So the best thing to do is get transport there and walk back to town, stopping off at the other sights as you go. We decided that if a taxi honked at us we would jump in to save time as we had 4 sights we wanted to visit. Just when you want a taxi, there were none around. It didn't really matter, as we approached the road to the bus station a mini-van pulled over and asked where we going and within 30 seconds we were whisked away to Tambomachy for 3 Soles (75p) each. We were there in 15 minutes, the van dropping us off right outside the main gate. The site itself is quite small and is a well preserved Inca bath. We walked round, took pictures and then walked further into the gully where there are terraces and caves. There is no sign for them and most people don't seem to know this part of the site exists.

After about 30 minutes roaming we headed across the road to the next site, Puca Pucara, an Inca hunting lodge with stunning views across the valley. We wandered round for a bit before walking down the road and then out into the countryside to get to the next site, Qenqo. This part of the walk back was stunning, through open fields with people riding horses, flocks of sheep and alpacas and the most amazing views of Cusco and the surrounding mountains. We climbed to a viewpoint, sat down and stayed there for a good 20 minutes just taking in the scenery.

It took us about 90 minutes to get to Qenqo but it was a pleasure with the amazing view and the sun shining. Again, the site itself is small but worth a look. In fact every site we went into made our 10 day ticket better value. The final site was Saqsaywaman, a massive Inca fort and grounds with elaborate wall designs, great views over the city and even some Inca recreational rock slides. We were there for about an hour before wandering down the steep hill back into town and to our room. The walk had taken up most of the day and I can highly recommend it, we loved every minute of it.

We planned to go to Mr Soup again for something to eat as it was tasty, healthy and cheap, but found it closed. We wandered round a bit at a loss before stumbling on Sumaq Restaurant round the corner. The thing that grabbed us was that it was only 20 soles for a 2 course meal. The place was empty but felt quite nice so we went in. We also got a free Pisco Sour with the menu, an added bonus. We ended up having a couple of Sours. The meal consisted of a soup and a main dish from a few choices. It was actually pretty good and a cheap night in the end. Would recommend the place on value alone, but the food and drinks were also of a higher standard than we expected.

After the meal it was back to the room for an earlier night as we had a 06:45 pick-up from our hotel to our next destination, Chivay in the Colca Canyon area of Peru. We've thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience of being in the Sacred Valley. Obviously Machu Picchu was always going to be the highlight. However what we didn't expect was how amazing the whole area is and how much we would enjoy the walks around Cusco and Urubamba plus the ruins at Ollantaytambo. Each stop has offered us something interesting and different and we have loved every moment of this wonderful place.

---